The recently announced province-wide changes to the Corrections Branch "Sick Time"  (STIIP) protocol are not in line with the collective agreement and are abusive.

Following our communication last week, the Ministry of Justice agreed to consult with the BCGEU about budget shortages, which have led to the decision to reduce their corporate services division by 21 positions and offer reassignments to other ministries.

BCGEU members have ratified the 16th Master Agreement, which was concluded September 27 in Victoria after a marathon bargaining session.

The union has received some sharp criticism from members regarding reimbursement of professional fees. Our agreement with government changed this fee schedule from 2005 to 2009. Within a month of our settlement, the Public Service Agency [PSA] agreed to a better provision with the Professional Employees' Association after refusing to do so with the BCGEU.

After several meetings between BCGEU representatives, members from the Component 1 executive and senior Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) representatives, major inspections into violence have started. At these meetings we called for the WCB to take meaningful steps to address the ongoing incidents of violence against Correctional Officers in provincial facilities.

The Ratification Bulletin for BCGEU members who work for the B.C. Government is now available online.

These agreements have now been ratified.

Master tentative agreement ---

A B.C Court of Appeal ruling that the B.C. Liberal government’s election gag law is unconstitutional supports the union’s position that the legislation is fundamentally flawed, the B.C. Government Employees’ Union (BCGEU) said today. The B.C. Supreme Court recently quashed a $3.2 million fine levied against the BCGEU by Elections B.C. under advertising provisions of the Elections Act.